Fantastic Four: October 2015

Ummm...
I have no excuse.
I could say that there are 4 children under the age of 10 living here, school, homework, music church, dance, t-ball, Bible study, dinners for neighbors, a new cat, training for a half marathon and life-in-general that are getting in the way of me blogging.
But I won't.

Blogging just hasn't been happening.
And that's okay.

We pared down our activities this fall so that everything is happening on one night and we have the rest of the week for family.
That one night is BSI (bat-s**t-insane), but it's just one night, as opposed to the whole week.

It's the best thing we've ever done.
I wish it hadn't taken us almost 10 years to figure this out.

Want to know what the kids are doing right now?
Playing outside with the neighbors, pretending they are paleontologists.
Digging in the dirt. Getting dirty. Screaming. Running around. Jumping off the swingset. Having fun.

The kids packed their own lunches and got homework done in about 45 minutes.
There have been minimal tears with home study - even with three digit multiplication and essays.
There is time to practice flute and for Caroline to do concerts for us.
There is time for creating airplanes with Legos.
There is time to make dinner, set the table and eat as a family.
It's not always pretty. They still fight. They still fart at the dinner table and chew with their mouths open. They still bug each other. They still bug ME.
But the yelling and grumpiness is so much less...
We know it won't always be like this. As the kids get older, they'll do other things...
But for right now...it's wonderful.

In other news:
I was teasing Jim a couple weeks ago, reminding him that now that he's running on a consistent basis, he should do a race. I was hoping to do a Half in October or November...so why didn't he just join me? We could find a sitter and run together!
Ha-ha...right?
Well - much to my surprise - he said, "Sure! You find a sitter and I'll run the race."
Knowing how hard it is to find sitters, I'm pretty certain he thought he was going to be able to get out of it.
But on the second try, we found a sitter (two, actually!) and they showed up at 6:15 on Saturday morning and we drove off to Shepherdstown, WV for Freedom's Run. Since the hills are killer, this was going to be a walk/run event for me. The race goes through some of our absolute favorite places and the autumn scenery is gorgeous. I knew Jim could do it, even if he didn't.
We had fun (even stopping for pictures along the way) and finished in 2:40.
Okay.
I had fun.
The jury is still deliberating for Jim.
But he wore his race shirt the next day...so I know he is proud of what he did. :)
And that is what it's all about.

In the weeks before this week, Benjamin had been sick. He was using a couple nebs a day and seemed like he was always on the verge of a reactive airway episode.
Ugh.
We had wanted to continue our annual tradition of going to one of the last Oriole's home games and getting a cool bobblehead doll.
Unfortunately, Ben wasn't in any shape to head in...
So Jim and Auntie Melanie came to the rescue. :)
This summer, when visiting The Stadium, Auntie Melanie told the people in concessions about some fans in Maryland that liked to play Yankee Stadium. The Concession people were super nice and loaded her with empty bags, napkins, hot dog wrappers and cups.
Jim headed to Wegmans, got pretzels, New England style hot dog buns and some soda. He popped popcorn, made some "Ortiz Bucks" and set up a consession stand in the kitchen and we plopped in front of the TV and watched the last Sox game of the season.
We are sad to say "good bye" to Orsillo, but appreciated Tito's gesture. ;)
Now onto the playoffs...

Caroline's flute playing is going well.
It's neat to hear her improve.
She is enjoying it. Music seems to be like just another language and makes sense to her.
We got some software and will start learning Spanish as a family. We'll see how it goes.
The boys are loving their new jammies.

I told some shirts and had the boys pick their favorite plane off the pattern and attached it to the front, giving them a full set.
I had to freehand Benjamin's pattern, which ended up being a little small.
He has the nickname of "Captain Tightpants" now and loves it.

I'm working on a nightgown for Caroline.
Just to try to figure out how to use bias tape and get better with patterning and putting things together.
Sewing is like doing a puzzle, except the goal is to never take it apart.
I can handle that.
:)
And we can't forget the little things around here that make life to wonderfully interesting...
Like a new pair of roller skates for Nate.